After the Invasion
by P.M.Hall
Summary: The story takes place after The Day of Black Sun. It actually is a bunch of short stories like Tales of Ba Sing Se.
1. Chapter 1

**After the Invasion**

"Princess, your Father wants a word with you." "What does he want to talk about?" The

Princess replied. "He wouldn't say, but he doesn't look happy." Princess Azula sighed as she

turned away to go see her father. "What did you want to see me about?" She inquired. It was a

few moments before her father looked up to answer her. Fire Lord Ozai was deep in thought,

his hands placed under his chin and a little over his face, his fingers just cradling his nose, and

hiding the grimace that was curling his mouth.

"Yes" his voice was a whisper but the malice and anger issuing from it was a palpable

presence in the room. "Your brother told me everything." "What do you mean?" "Don't play

coy with me! You lied to me about the death of The Avatar!" "But I didn't lie" "Don't you dare

lie to me again! The only reason I do not kill you now is because you are the last in line to the

throne! Your brother, Prince Zuko has abdicated his position, abandoned his nation, and his

family! He told me himself he intends to help The Avatar defeat me!"

Princess Azula was quaking with fear, she had never before experienced her father's anger.

However the news that Zuko had abdicated filled her with fierce joy, the throne was going to be

hers and hers alone. "Find The Avatar! Find your brother and uncle! And once you do, kill

them! Kill them all!" This thundering command had brought her out of her reverie. "Yes Father,

I obey" she answered humbly. "Now get out of my sight! I don't want to see you again, until

you have given me proof of their demise!"

Princess Azuala bowed and walked out of the room. Her mouth curling into a malicious smile.

She would find her Brother and Uncle, she would make them pay. She would destroy The

Avatar. And then when her Father had forgotten his wrath towards her, she would bring him

down. She would no longer be Princess Azuala, but Fire Lady Azula, the most feared ruler of

The Fire Nation in history.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Letter**

Dear Mai,

By the time you have read this I will be in exile again, but this time I chose to go. I am sorry, I

know that you will believe that I have abandoned you. Please believe me when I say that is not

true. I have finally realized that my father never really wanted me as his son. I will no longer try

to gain his affection and approval.

When I was first banished, I had only one objective, to capture The Avatar, and regain my

honor, my throne, my father's love. And for more than three years I pursued that objective, not

caring about anything else. I did traitorous things to reach my goal, I was The Blue Spirit and

when The Avatar was captured by Admiral Zhao, I broke into the fortress in which he was

being held, and I freed him. As I was making my escape I was knocked unconscious, I was

helpless. The Avatar saved my life even though I was his sworn enemy. And this wasn't the first

time he saved me. At the Siege of the North, he saved me again when he could have left me to

die in the frozen wilderness. Nobody else has shown me this kindness, not even my own family.

The only people who have ever shown any caring toward me are you, my mother, my uncle,

and The Avatar.

My Uncle has been trying to dissuade me from the pursuit for a while now, but it took a

long time for me to appreciate his wisdom. Just recently he revealed a secret to my heritage, he

told me that I am related to Avatar Roku. He is my great grandfather on my mother's side, I

have only known about Fire Lord Sozin my great grandfather on my father's line. Uncle Iroh

told me that the conflict within me was because of the great conflict between my two great

grandfathers. And that I was the only one who is able to right the wrongs of my family.

What I am about to tell you may well endanger your life, but you need to know the truth. I

am going to help The Avatar defeat my father. The Fire Nation's war with the rest of the world

is wrong. We have all been living a lie. The Fire Nation is not the greatest among the nations.

We are not trying to share our wealth and prosperity with the world, we are trying to subjugate

the people of the world and make them our slaves. We have already exterminated the Air

Nomads, they are all gone except for The Avatar. And once he is gone there will be none left,

The Avatar Cycle will be broken. If this war continues, The Fire Nation will exterminate the

water benders and the earth benders. Eventually there will be no more benders, and maybe

even humanity itself will be extinct. We all live together and we all depend on each other.

Once this war is over and balance has been restored, I will come back for you. I love you,

you were the only reason I came back. If it wasn't for you I would have stayed in Ba Sing Se.

Your's in Love,

Zuko.

As Mai read the letter, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She sat on the bed and read it again.

She read and re-read the letter until exhaustion overtook her and she succumbed to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Chase is on**

The next day, Mai woke up as depressed as she had ever been. The letter from Zuko was

clutched tightly in her hands, twisted, convoluted, and so wrinkled it looked like a worthless

scrap of parchment. Zuko running off like that really hurt her, she had finally begun feeling

happy since his return, excluding the embarrassing situation at the beach where he was acting

like a total idiot. She knew she wanted to chase after him, but she didn't know why. Would she

forgive him when they saw each other again? Or would she try to kill him?

Her thinking was interrupted when Princess Azula and Ty Lee entered the room. "Ladies,

my brother has shamed us all once again. My father has ordered us to go after him." Princess

Azula ended this statement with a rather uncharacteristic look of concern. "I'm sorry Mai. I

know how you felt about him. Are you okay?" Mai's response was a shrug of the shoulders.

Immediately after the question Princess Azuala reverted to her old self. "My Uncle has also

escaped from prison. I didn't think it was possible to do, but he did. We have to go now, we

don't have any time to lose." "Are we going after The Avatar or your uncle and brother?" Ty

Lee asked. "The Avatar and his friends will come back to us. So lets just worry about my fuddy

duddy uncle and my brother Zuzu." "But your brother said he was going to help The Avatar." Ty

Lee persisted. "Yes, but I doubt The Avatar and his friends will trust my dear brother." Said

Azula with a wry smile.

"Fine, I was getting bored here anyway." Mai said in her usually gloomy voice. Princess

Azula smiled at her and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. As they walked towards the exit

Mai had a small smile. Apparently The Princess wasn't the only one who was a good liar.


	4. Chapter 4

**Freedom**

"AH! Freedom!" Iroh sniffed the air and inhaled until he was sure he would burst. "It is a

beautiful sight to my eyes, a melodious sound to my ears, an intoxicating aroma, a delicious and

savory taste, it is a banquet for my soul!" His enjoyment of everything he had loved before his

incarceration, the smell of fresh air, beautiful scenery, the warmth of the sun on his back, seemed

magnified a thousand times.

His escape was all the more satisfying because he showed that warden who he was really

dealing with. That oaf had been insulting him ever since his return to the Fire Nation. Iroh

snickered at the memory of shock on the warden's face, as he had broken through the bars as if

they were twigs. Another thing that he was really enjoying was the feeling of his new and

very muscular physique. He felt like a much younger man, and he was going to make sure he felt

this good for a long time to come.

The only thing that really worried him was his nephew. Would Zuko bow down to his

father's will his entire life? Or would he have the courage to forge his own destiny?


	5. Chapter 5

**Back in Time**

**Aang**

Aang was at home in The Southern Air Temple, he had just been told he was The Avatar,

the other kids were keeping their distance from him now that they knew who he really was. It

was as if they were afraid of him, but they were trying not to show it. Aang had tried to tell them

that he was still the same person, but it was no good. The only person who really understood

him was his mentor, and one of his oldest and best friends, Monk Gyatso. While the other

monkswanted Aang to train all day, Monk Gyatso tried to instill some fun into his daily routines.

This aroused the anger of the other monks, and they decided to send Aang away to Eastern Air

Temple to finish his training. Unknown to the monks Aang had heard the outcome of their

meeting. He was going to be torn away from the only person who really cared about him, he

was angry, afraid, and confused, he didn't know what to do.

While Aang was in his room thinking about how his life was about to change forever, he

heard the fearful shout of many voices, and the trampling of infinite feet. He ran outside to see

what was happening, and wished immediately that he was just dreaming. The monks fears of

war were coming true, a multitude of Fire Benders was attacking the temple, buildings were on

fire and people were running for their lives.

Aang ran down a flight of stairs to help his fellow Air Benders. He effortlessly dodged

any attacks, and blew many soldiers out of his way. There was a lot of them, but he would not

let them win. As he was fighting, he saw Monk Gyatso surrounded. He rushed over to help, but

it was as if time was slowed down. Monk Gyatso was truly a master of Airbending, though

normally a very peaceful man, tonight he was fighting with a ferocity of power that no one had

ever witnessed. He had killed many Firebenders, and it seemed that nothing could stop him.

The awful sight of his home being destroyed and his people attacked filled Aang with rage, and

he went into The Avatar State. He rose into the air, and the Fire Nation soldiers began shouting

to each other "There's The Avatar! Take him down!" However the ferocity of Aang's power

was too great, it was billowing around him so forcefully that those unlucky enough to be near

him were either blown away, or skewered by ordinary harmless objects that became lethal high

velocity projectiles thrown by the wind.

Finally it was all over, the temple was in ruins, but The Fire Nation had been defeated.

The Air Benders had won this battle. The price of victory however was very steep, Aang saw

many twisted and burning bodies lying on the ground. Some of them recognizable, others were

not, and many of them were kids just like he was. They would never grow up, never do any of

the things that they used to do, this sight filled Aang with sadness, and his eyes brimmed with

tears. However, plenty of other Airbenders had survived, including Monk Gyatso. Aang rushed

over to his old friend and gave him a tight embrace. "We have won this battle Aang, but there

will be plenty more. You must leave me soon and complete your training." Aang was too happy

to say anything except "Gyatso."

Aang woke up from his dream, it had seemed so real, it had started out bad, but it had a

happy ending. He fully expected Monk Gyatso to be there in his arms, but he was sadly

disappointed. He let out a small sigh, and walked away. The others were still asleep and Aang

didn't want to disturb them. While he was staring out at nothing, wishing that his dream were a

reality he was suddenly startled by a hand resting on his shoulders. "Are you okay Aang?" it

was Katara. "Couldn't sleep either?" "You woke me up" "Sorry" "It's okay. Did you have a

bad dream?" "Sort of. I was there at the temple when it was being attacked. I was able to save

my people, I was able to save Gyatso." "So it turned into a good dream?" "Yeah, but it wasn't

real. Why Couldn't it have been real?" Aang it was just a dream. "But it seemed so real, I wish I

could go back in time before this all happened and make everything right. I wish I could have

ended this war before it started." "No body can change the past Aang. All we can do is live for

today, and make the world better for the future." "I've failed Katara. Failed to save the

airbenders, failed to stop Princess Azula from taking over Ba Sing Se, failed to defeat The Fire

Lord on the only day that he wasn't able to use his firebending, and I don't think I'll be able to

face him again." "You'll have to Aang" "I know, but I don't think I can. You don't understand

Katara, I've failed because I love you." "What do you mean?"

"It all started when I went to see Guru Pathik help me master The Avatar State.

Everything was going fine until he wanted me to abandon everything that was attaching me to

this world. He wanted me to abandon you, and I couldn't do it. And when I tried back in Ba

Sing Se, that was when Azula struck me down, and now I can't go into The Avatar State at all."

Katara had nothing to say to this, all she could do was wrap her arms around Aang. For a

moment time seemed to stop completely as they gazed into each others eyes and then very

slowly they began to kiss. Aang pulled himself away, and gave a tragic look to Katara. "I'm

sorry Katara, but we can't let ourselves do this. I need to be by myself right now." Katara

didn't say anything, she just looked at Aang's retreating figure as tears began rushing down the

side of her face.

**Sokka**

"So, Sokka's your name right? My favorite prisoner used always talk about you. She was

convinced you would come rescue her, but you never came, and she finally lost hope." This

statement cut through him like a knife, a single tear ran down the side of his face. He let out a

cry of rage and rushed at this person who would dare talk of hurting Suki. The Princess was

ready, a single shuriken blade flew out of her sleeve. "Come and get it" she said in a deadly

whisper. Before she could throw the blade Toph pinned her against the wall. Sokka grabbed

her throat, and roughly pushed up her face. "Where is Suki?" He asked his voice quiet, but full

of rage. Princess Azula just gave him a demonic smile and said nothing.

After a few minutes of pointless questioning Aang and Toph were ready to give up.

"Sokka it's no use, she won't talk" said Aang putting a hand on his shoulder. "Your right Aang"

and quite suddenly Azula's face changed from a demonic grin, to a face contorted with shock

and pain. Sokka had run her through with his sword. The Princess groaned as Sokka pushed t

he blade in deeper. "You thought you were invincible, well you're not" Sokka grabbed her face

and leaned in real close to whisper his final words, "I've beaten you." Azula gave one last

shuddering breath, and became limp.

Sokka woke up with a shout. "Sokka what's wrong?" The others said. "I-I dreamed I was

a monster." "You dreamed you were a monster?" said Toph barely stifling a laugh. "I'm going

back to bed!" Sokka said roughly, but he stayed up the rest of the night.

**Iroh**

Iroh had often wondered what Zuko's life would have been like if he had never been

forced to fight his father, never been permanently scarred, never been banished and sent to hunt

after The Avatar. What if Iroh had intervened and stopped Ozai from scarring his son's face?

What if he had somehow persuaded his nephew not to go into that fateful meeting at all? Iroh

knew that he could not change the past, but he wished he could. The best he could do was wish

for a future of peace for the world, a future he hoped his nephew would help bring.

**Authors Note**

Well I'm finally done! I'm sorry to anyone who wanted more chapters with Zuko in it, but I

didn't want to risk spoiling "The Western Air Temple" for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. I won't

make any speculations beyond what I've already written. I don't think I'll write any more

Avatar stories after this, I feel I must branch out and expand my horizons. If I write another

story, it will be the sequel to my first fan fiction story. I don't think I will write that for awhile

though. I am glad I got such favorable reviews. Thank you all.


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